U2 has officially rescheduled the North American tour leg that was postponed when band frontman Bono underwent emergency back surgery earlier this year. All markets on the 16-date itinerary have been preserved, though the routing’s city order has been slightly modified.
The first city on the 2011 tour is now Denver, which will host the opening concert on May 21 at Invesco Field. The previous launch-spot, Salt Lake City, is now the second destination on the map with a May 24 event at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
The tour will also close in a new city than previously planned. Rather than wrapping in East Rutherford, which has been charted for a July 20 gig at the New Meadowlands Stadium, U2 take its final bow a few nights later on July 23 at TCF Bank Stadium.
Rescheduled dates are listed in full below. Tickets for all original performance dates will be honored on the new dates and times. The tour’s remaining available tickets are now available for purchase again on Ticketmaster.com.
“We’re delighted the dates are rescheduled and in all the same venues we originally planned to play,” said longtime band manager Paul McGuinness in a prepared statement released by Live Nation Entertainment. “It hasn’t been easy to accomplish this and I’d like to thank the managers of the many venues and sports teams across North America and Live Nation Global Touring for their help and cooperation in making this complex new plan possible.”
McGuinness continued, “Above all we want to thank the U2 fans for bearing with us. They’re the best and the band wants to get back to where they belong, surrounded by their audience.”
U2’s on-going 360° Tour was scheduled to relaunch June 3 in Salt Lake City and continue through July 19 in East Rutherford. However, Bono was diagnosed with severe compression of the sciatic nerve in mid-May, forcing the performer to undergo immediate back surgery on May 21.
The condition had caused Bono to suffer partial leg paralysis and severe pain, according to doctors’ statements at the time. Immediate surgery was required to prevent further paralysis, though his doctors expected Bono to make a complete recovery.
Initially, only the June 3 concert was postponed. But in the days following the surgery, it was announced that Bono’s recovery would take at least eight weeks, at which time the remainder of the North American calendar was also postponed. The band’s European tour, beginning this August 6 in Italy, was not affected.
U2’s 360° Tour began last summer in Europe, where many concerts sold out within minutes, according to published statements. The band followed the over seas run with a fall leg in North America, where ticket sales were also strong.
By the end of the year, the trek had been named the highest grossing tour of 2009 by Billboard, thanks to its tally of 44 sold-out concerts. Overall, more than 3 million people attended the 2009 tour for a total gross of $311,631,740.
U2 – 2011 rescheduled itinerary:
(Dates are subject to change.)
| May 21 | Denver, CO | Invesco Field at Mile High | (Original: June 12, 2010) |
| May 24 | Salt Lake City, UT | Rice-Eccles Stadium | (Original: June 3, 2010) |
| June 1 | Edmonton, AB | Commonwealth Stadium | (Original: June 23, 2010) |
| June 4 | Seattle, WA | Qwest Field | (Original: June 20, 2010) |
| June 7 | Oakland, CA | Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum | (Original: June 16, 2010) |
| June 17 – 18 | Anaheim, CA | Angel Stadium of Anaheim | (Original: June 6 – 7, 2010) |
| June 26 | East Lansing, MI | Spartan Stadium | (Original: June 30, 2010) |
| June 29 | Miami Gardens, FL | Sun Life Stadium | (Original: July 9, 2010) |
| July 5 | Chicago, IL | Soldier Field | (Original: July 6, 2010) |
| July 8 – 9 | Montreal, QC | Hippodrome De Montreal | (Original: July 16 – 17, 2010) |
| July 11 | Toronto, ON | Rogers Centre | (Original: July 3, 2010) |
| July 14 | Philadelphia, PA | Lincoln Financial Field | (Original: July 12, 2010) |
| July 20 | East Rutherford, NJ | Meadowlands Stadium | (Original: July 19, 2010) |
| July 23 | Minneapolis, MN | TCF Bank Stadium | (Original: June 27, 2010) |
